2013.02.27 Oh where, oh where, can my little note be?

Written by David Green.

By COLLEEN LEDDY

David said something funny last week and I quickly jotted it down on the handiest piece of paper—the Detroit Free Press—with the handiest writing implement...a washable purple marker that somehow had surfaced from when almost-two-year-old Caroline was visiting a couple months ago.

When he reminded me on Saturday night that it was my week to write a column, I remembered having taken those notes. But when I looked for the paper on Sunday, it was no longer on the table.

With a moan and a groan, I set to going through the recycling basket. The best thing about our current curbside recycling pick-up is that everything goes in one bag. But the worst thing about curbside recycling is that everything goes in one bag.

I was going to have to pick through the glass jars and the plastic containers to make my way to the section of the Free Press on which I’d written the note. Fortunately, David is pretty fastidious about washing out jars and tin cans—I wasn’t going to encounter anything really gross.

Unfortunately, I was having no luck finding the note. I was certain I’d scrawled it on the left-hand side of a right-hand page toward the back of the main section of the newspaper. So I concentrated my efforts first on the main sections of the past week and when nothing panned out, moved on to the week before.

I’d been gone a week and had had a lot of catch-up reading to do, so it could have been any paper over two weeks rather than just the Thursday I had written the note. Still no luck, so I moved on to all the other sections of the paper even though I never crack open the “Buy + Sell” classified section or Thursday’s “Motor City” section, rarely ever the Sports section, and only occasionally the Business section. I buy the paper for “Life” and the main section.

I couldn’t fathom why the note wasn’t just jumping out at me. I mentally started accusing David of peeling potatoes on it and tossing it in the garbage, but we hadn’t eaten potatoes in weeks.

Onward I went, forcing myself not to be distracted by all the stories I’d previously ignored in the other sections—until I came to one on page five in the Thursday Business section, “Fiscal Discipline: Military families need to save to combat ongoing financial stress,” by Susan Tompor, that sounded too interesting to pass up.

I started reading it and then decided I better set it aside and go through the rest of the pile. When I had no luck finding the note after going through every dang section of every dang paper in the basket, I figured I must be nuts so I might as well finish the “Fiscal Discipline” story.

Some money troubles are self-inflicted, says Tompor, “as service personnel turn to spending to cope with the stress of preparing for dangerous situations,” but others come from scam artists who do things like “sell stolen vehicles—or cars they don’t even have—at bargain prices claiming to be soldiers who are being deployed.”

Well, that was an interesting article, I thought as I folded the paper, but I still hadn’t found my note. Then, the one-page “dinky” of the six-page Business section fell out and as I tried to grab it and not drop the rest of the paper, purple ink caught my eye.

There it was! On the left-hand side of page two of the Business section. I couldn’t have been more wrong about where I remembered writing the note. I briefly considered again that I might be going nuts, but I did remember reading the story next to the purple note.

Back on Thursday night, David was peeling carrots—preparing his sack lunch for the next day—and I was reading the Business section. It was a story about Klaus Busse, Chrysler vice president of interior design.

I remember being intrigued that this German designer went to the Texas State Fair “to study how pickup owners drove and worshipped their rigs” and laughing that he arrived wearing a pink Polo shirt and white tennis shoes. As writer Brent Snavely said, “not exactly the kind of look that draws a ‘Howdy, cowboy’ reaction.”

Suddenly, while reading the story, I realized David was talking to me and I had absolutely no idea what he had just said.

“Holy cow!” I said in apology. “You just said words that did not penetrate my brain!”

GAMES DAY—Finn Molitierno (right) celebrates a goal during a game of Nok Hockey with his sister, Kyla. The two tried out a variety of games Saturday at Stair District Library’s annual International Games Day event. One of the activities featured a sort of scavenger hunt in which participants had to locate facts presented in the Smithsonian Hometown Teams exhibit. The traveling show left Morenci’s library Tuesday, wrapping up a series of programs that began Oct. 2. Additional photos are on page 7.

STRANGE STUFF—Morenci Elementary School students learn that blue isn’t really blue when seen through the right color of lens. Volunteer April Pike presents the lesson to students at one of the many stations brought to the school by the COSI science center. The theme of this year’s visit was the solar system.

MAPLE leaves show their fall colors in a puddle at Morenci’s Riverside Natural Area. “This was a great year for colors,” said local weather watcher George Isobar. Chilly mornings will give way to seasonable fall temperatures for the next two weeks.

MORENCI Marching Band member Brittany Dennis keeps the beat Friday during the half-time show of the Morenci/Pittsford football game. Color guard member Jordan Cordts is at the left. The band performed this season under the direction of Doyle Rodenbeck who served as Morenci’s band director in the 1970s. He’s serving as a substitute during a family leave.

MOVING EAST—Utility workers continue their slow progress east along U.S. 20 south of Morenci. New electrical poles are put in place before wiring is moved into place.

A PERFORMER named Biligbaatar, a member of the AnDa Union troupe from Inner Mongolia, dances at Stair District Library last week during a visit to the Midwest. The nine-member group blends a variety of traditions from Inner and Outer Mongolia. The music is described as drawing from “all the Mongol tribes that Genghis Khan unified.” The group considers itself music gatherers whose goal is to preserve traditional sounds of Mongolia. Biligbaatar grew up among traditional herders who live in yurts. Additional photos are on the back page of this week’s Observer.

HOLDEN HUTCHISON gives a hug to a black bear cub—the product of a taxidermist’s skills—at the Michigan DNR’s Great Youth Jamboree. The event on Sunday marked the fourth year of the Jamboree. Additional photos are on page 12.